DODGERS' WIN IS A BENCH MARK : DODGERS 8, N.Y. METS 3.

Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer

Take Shawn Estes, Mark Gardner, Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent away from the San Francisco Giants, even for a few days, and imagine the carnage.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, have suddenly begun to display bench strength that might be the envy of the major leagues.

They were without their most potent run-producer Tuesday night, as catcher Mike Piazza sat out with a tender hamstring. Their veteran shortstop, Greg Gagne, was out for a sixth straight game with a virus. And they were weathering their ninth Band-Aid start in the absence of injured starters Ramon Martinez and Ismael Valdes.

Yet, their July beat continued to thump. Another victory - this time 8-3 over the New York Mets before 33,358 fans at Dodger Stadium. More hot breath on the necks of the first-place Giants in the National League West.

``The team, just in general, is playing strong and confidently,'' third baseman Todd Zeile said on the occasion of the Dodgers' 14th win in 19 games since the season's midpoint. ``Everybody who is going in is feeling part of that. Some role players are doing the job.''

And in this game, they were doing it with a flourish.

Tom Prince, in the lineup for Piazza, delivered only the seventh home run of his 11-year career and also got a run home by not wriggling too quickly out of the way of an inside pitch with the bases loaded - the hit-by-pitch gave him an RBI.

Tripp Cromer, at shortstop for Gagne, continued to hit at a confoundingly hot pace, clearing the bases and breaking the game open with a gap double in the Dodgers' four-run sixth inning.

Tom Candiotti continued to tug up the slack left in the wake of Martinez. Though he was touched for three solo home runs over his seven innings of work, the knuckleballer left the mound satisfied in the knowledge that the Dodgers have won in four of his seven emergency starts.

And just to embellish the trend, Billy Ashley came off the bench in the eighth inning to connect on a pinch-hit home run off Joe Crawford.

The victory enabled the Dodgers to remain within three games of San Francisco in the West.

It was certainly a makeshift cast of characters that made it all possible.

Piazza, who injured his left hamstring Sunday in Atlanta, took batting practice in the afternoon but was held out of his second straight game. Gagne, who visited two doctors after returning home, was said to be improving but not yet ready for a return to the lineup.

As a result, the star quality dropped off sharply in the batting order after Zeile's positioning in the No. 5 spot: Wilton Guerrero, Prince, Cromer.

Or so it seemed before play began.

Guerrero, in the game at second base because of Cromer's assignment at short, tripled in a run and enjoyed a 3-for-4 night with a run scored.

Prince delivered his first home run of the season, a solo blast to left field off Mark Clark in the fourth inning - it lifted the Dodgers into a lead they never relinquished.

Cromer, batting eighth, continued to confound all those scouts who had pigeon-holed him as an all-glove, no-hit middle infielder. He finished the game with a .328 average, with 18 RBI in 67 at-bats.

``He's presenting a problem here,'' said manager Bill Russell. ``Everybody is hitting the ball and scoring runs. When Gagne's healthy, we'll just have to see what we have to do.''

Cromer, in typically self-effacing manner, shrugged it all off. He characterized his mind-set for his bases-loaded at-bat in the sixth as ``trying not to strike out.''

As for all that pop in his bat - he came to the Dodgers as a .217 hitter in three seasons with St. Louis - he flashed that shy smile of his and said, ``When I first got here, I had no idea I would get to play this much. But that's why you're here - not to sit on the bench and eat the spread after the game.''

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PHOTO (color) Raul Mondesi watches his home run ball sail toward the fence in the third inning.

Evan Yee / Daily News